Man commits suicide after daughter allegedly accuses him of rape
A man committed suicide after his daughter allegedly accused him of rape.
According to information, the 45-year-old suspect started raping his daughter in 2017 when she was 17 years old.
The victim disclosed the incidents to her mother in 2024. Disturbed by what her daughter told her, the mother separated from the suspect without reporting the matter to the police at the time.
In 2025, the situation escalated when the suspect began harassing both the mother and his daughter at their place of residence, prompting the mother to open a case of rape at a police station.
Before the suspect could be arrested, he called his relative on Thursday, 12 June 2025, to inform them that he had ingested poison after a rape case was opened against him.
When emergency services and police responded, the suspect was already declared dead at the scene.
The police in Leslie opened an inquest docket and investigations surrounding his death are still ongoing.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Dr) Zeph Mkhwanazi, urged the public to report sexual crimes immediately.
She says, 'We commend the victim for her courage in coming forward. Sexual abuse has no place in our society. We urge anyone who is a victim or witness to such crimes to seek help and report the matter without delay.'
Serial rapist, Japhta Pitsi David Mabitsela (32), was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment for harassing women and children in the Mankweng and Sebayeng policing areas.
Between the years 2011 and 2021, Mabitsela targeted women and girls aged between 12 and 38 years.
He would forcefully break into the victim's homes at night, attack them on the streets and would drag them to secluded areas in the bushes and rape them.
Forensic investigation techniques used DNA evidence to link the suspect to other crimes he committed, and he was arrested in January 2024.
The suspect was given an effective sentence of 25 years' imprisonment, with three years suspended for a period of five years.
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